Morgan Run pre-jungle

Yesterday I continued my re-entry into climbing (after a pulled lower back) with a trip to Morgan Run with Dan, meeting up with Mark Profeta who's been putting in a lot of time there recently.  Although I haven't been to Morgan Run for about a year, Crystal Crimps is one of my favorite problems in Maryland.  For those unfamiliar with the problem, it's the one in the photo at the top of this blog, a beautiful overhanging arete with a huge quartz vein running straight out the middle.  Here's a video that Mark posted if you want to see it in action.  Morgan Run has a lot of rock, very similar to Carderock except with more overhanging features, but the heavy vegetation makes it a place I don't visit often once the weather gets too warm.

Going downriver from the parking lot on Klee's Mill Road, we started the day on the problem that Mark is calling Tighten Up, another overhanging bulge with sharp holds that roughed my hands up and gave me way more trouble than expected.  It was something I remember wanting to get on last time I passed though, so it was good to actually get the chance.

From there we walked a little further to the Recessed Cave Formation, which had some surprisingly fun lines.  Klingon SDS was a great body tension problem on a rising undercling flake, with a cool transition onto the slabby top.  See Mark's video here.

Dan did a fun looking variation that purely used the crack behind the flake.  He also made light work of Between Two Pillows, the crack that cut straight up the top of the cave.

We also spent a few minutes playing around on the project currently listed as Tons of Friends, which I was excited to see that others had been working on recently.  While it definitely won't be me, I have a good feeling someone is going to send it this year.  Deciding not to blow our fingers on tiny crimps, we  finished with a few shots at the arete that might have been Portenos Go Home.

Fun day at Morgan Run, and it'd be nice to get up there again before the greenery sets in much more.  For now, off to Governor Stable!